Political analysts from both sides of the fence remain divided over Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's ability to push through the establishment of a regional peace plan following his announcement to quit after his Kadima party's primary in September.
But one thing they see eye to eye is the obscurity of future peace talks with the Palestinians.
Olmert on Wednesday announced that he would not run in his central party Kadima's primary election set for Sept. 17 and would step down as premier afterward to allow his successor to form a government.
Olmert had been dogged by corruption allegations and sinking popularity. His popularity plummeted to well below 20 percent at one point following his inconclusive war against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon in 2006.
Though Olmert said he would resign to allow the new Kadima party chairman to put together a new government, he could stay on as caretaker prime minister for months while a successor labors for patching together a new coalition.
Unless the prospective chairman of Kadima, which has only 29 seats in the 120-member parliament, manages to form a new coalition to allow for a swift internal resolution to the crisis, new elections are inevitable.
Kadima's main contenders, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud party who opposes most concessions suggested under the peace talks by Olmert, and Ehud Barak of Labor party, both former prime ministers, are waiting to jump in.
"I feel that we missed a big opportunity to do something significant in the Middle East with Olmert," Yariv Oppenheimer, Director of Israel's leftist Peace Now organization, told Xinhua.
"I hope that in the few months we still have he and his partners in Syria and the Palestinian (National) Authority will be smart enough to get something done. The people that will come after Olmert will not be as able to get something established," Oppenheimer said.
He noted that the last couple of months that Olmert might exert any influence over Israeli politics were crucial to anchor a peace process.
But some analysts feel that a downward spiral in Palestinian law and order following the political split between secular Fatah in the West Bank and extremist Hamas militants in the Gaza strip is central to the peace process' lack of progress.
